The Final Duel
by LunaLovegood61
Summary: A short fic about Harry and Voldemort's final duel (hence the title). My first fic ever. Tear it apart, be nice, be cruel. Just RR.


DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, blah, blah, blah. You know what else I'm going to say. If I did would I honestly be posting it here under a made up name?  
  
The second war was on the brink of its downfall, and the fate of the world rested on a single boy's shoulders. One solitude figure stood on a stone step overlooking a platform on which a stone dias lay. On top of the dias was a black veil. The boy was drawn in to the voices which seemed to be calling him from behind. His footsteps echoed as the distance between him and the veil decreased. This time there was no one to stop him. There was no one to hold him back from seeing what was on the other side. If he were to fall no one would catch him. But he didn't care. Too long had he watched those he loved suffer around him. Too long had others sacrificed their own lives to save his. He was going to put a stop to it.  
  
"Sirius..."   
  
He had heard it, had he not? Or perhaps he really was losing his mind. No. There it was again.  
  
"I'm here."  
  
It was just like the dream. Everything was precisely the same. The slight breeze behind the veil, the tiny beads of sweat forming at his temples. For a short moment he questioned whether it really was just a dream.  
  
"It's too late to save me, Harry."  
  
Harry shook his head violently so that his dead-straight ebony locks flew into his eyes.  
  
"No! I'm right here Sirius, I'm right here. Maybe if I can somehow reach-- what?" Harry ran until he stood just three feet away from the veil.  
  
The disembodied voice said something but he did not quite catch it.  
  
"It's a trap."  
  
"Sirius, what are you ta--"  
  
Just at that moment a fierce wind blew from the other side of the veil, knocking Harry onto his back An spine-chilling chuckle came from somewhere atop the stone steps at the entrance of the circular room. Harry's emerald eyes grew wide in fear as soon as he realized what was happening. Slowly, he stood up, his back still facing the source of the grim laughter.   
  
'Turn around and face me like the man they all are so sure you are."  
  
Harry grinded his teeth at the snide remark and turned around, groping his robe pockets for his wand.  
  
"Voldemort," he said coldly.  
  
Two red, snake-like eyes peered down at him from the steps.  
  
"And why don't you come down here for a little duel?" Fear was immediately replace by rage. All the haunting memories came flying through his mind like a high-speed film. Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket and rolled up the sleeves of his robe. Voldemort gave another laugh while disappearing, only to reappear at the base of the stone steps some twenty feet from Harry. He pulled out his own wand..  
  
"STUPEFY!"  
  
"CRUCIO!"  
  
Both spells met halfway between the two wizards and sent sparks flying in all directions. Harry shielded his eyes with his left arm, still holding his wand out in dueling position with his right. Voldemort seemed unaffected by the shards of light that ricocheted off his scaly skin.   
  
"Boy, do you honestly think that a simple 'stupefy' will stop the Dark Lord from killing a mere school boy?"  
  
"If I'm just a school boy why couldn't you kill me when I was a year old? Not so hot now, are you Voldemort!?" Harry raised his wand again to attack.  
  
"How dare you treat me with such disrespect, CRUCIO!"  
  
Harry fell to his knees as his whole body filled with unimaginable pain. He tried desperately to use his wand to send another spell Voldemort's way.   
  
"Accio wand!" Harry's wand flew out of his lose grasp and into Voldemort's right hand. "Avada- Oh, how silly of me. We wouldn't want our audience to miss this, would we?  
  
Morsemorde!"   
  
A beam of green light shot into the air, displaying the Dark Mark somewhere above their heads, in the night sky. At once Death Eaters appeared.  
  
"You called us, Dark Lord?" Harry recognized the voice to belong to Sirius's killer, Lestrange. More anger flared inside the boy.  
  
"Yes, how would you all like to watch Potter die?" A satisfying murmur rippled among the Death Eaters as Voldemort grinned. "Stand back and enjoy then. This is between me and the boy alone."  
  
Uncontrollable tears of pain ran down Harry's cheeks as he still tried to fight the Cruciatious. His eyes began to roll to the back of his head and he was about to slip into unconsciousness but Voldemort lifted the Cruciatious suddenly. Harry jerked back from shock and he bent forward and coughed up some blood. His eyes searched the room for the cause of Voldemort and the Death Eaters' cries of panic. He spotted Dumbledore, Lupin, and McGonagall just as they stupefied all Death Eaters but one. The remaining Death Eater pulled off his hood and mask, exposing himself. Snape took his rightful place on the right of McGonagall and stood alert, waiting for his command to attack.  
  
"You dare defy the one you serve, Snape?"  
  
"I serve The Order of the Phoenix, and the Order alone."  
  
Voldemort was about to attack, unintentionally using Harry's wand, but it flew out of his hand and into Harry's. Dumbfounded, Harry gaped at his hand and then came to his senses.  
  
"Expelliarmus!" The other wand Voldemort was holding flew out of his hand and into Harry's. But Harry dropped it at once, as it burned his skin. The moment it hit the ground, the wand burst into green flame and withered to ash. Everyone in the room stood in silence for a few seconds, staring at what had once been Voldemort's wand. Lupin stared intently at Dumbledore who shook his head. As much as he wanted to save Harry now he knew he could do nothing but wait and hope. He had learned of the prophecy just a few minutes ago in Dumbledore's office. Harry had to defeat Voldemort alone, the others could not do a thing to aide him against Voldemort. They had gotten rid of all the Death Eaters and now they could only watch with faith.  
  
Voldemort ran, almost glided to Harry. Harry took a few steps back, almost at the veils edge. He felt as though a magnetic force was pulling his body through the veil, and the voices pulling his mind. Voldemort was now five feet away. He had to act fast. It had to be the right moment. Three feet. The voices were now the only thing he could here. He was deaf to the cries of horror from the Order members. Now! Harry threw himself off the dias as Voldemort's bony hands desperately tried to take hold of the curtain. His efforts were to no avail and he fell through the other side. A look of triumph appeared on McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape's faces, and the childlike twinkle came back to Dumbledore's eyes. Harry slowly got up, knees shaking, and walked over cautiously to the veil. Before anyone could stop him he brushed aside part of the curtain and peered into it. What next happened no one could have expected. Voldemort's bony hand grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him into the veil. Lupin ran down the stone steps to Harry's rescue just as his body completely disappeared behind the curtain.  
  
"Harry, no!" Lupin sobbed  
  
The other three Order members ran down the steps. Dumbledore put a hand on Lupin's shoulder, comforting him and also reminding him to move away from the veil Another lost soul would be more than he could stand. Lupin, Dumbledore, Snape, and Mcgonagall stood for a brief moment of silence, bowing there heads in prayer. Dumbledore was the first to pull out of the trance. He then turned his back to the veil and began to ascend the stone steps, wondering how to break both the tragic and wonderful news to the wizarding world. The other three followed.   
  
The trip up the steps seemed to be the longest journey of Lupin's life. He forgot about Voldemort's fall. All that was on his mind was Harry. Once again he had lost the closest and most beloved friend in his life. The last member of the Potter family. It was even like losing Sirius all over again.  
  
"Headmaster?" Mcgonagall looked up at Dumbledore.  
  
"Let us return to Hogwarts, Minerva. We have much to tell the world tonight." He suppressed his tears and made his way to the doorway of the room.  
  
Lupin was the first to notice, as he was the last to leave the room. A slight, yet distinct breeze caused the curtain to flutter. He sighed and turned to leave again. Then, dim crimson and gold beams of light protruded the curtain. Lupin did a double take. The others stopped and slowly turned around. Cautiously, they reentered the room. Snape's usual cold glare was replaced by confusion and curiosity. The beams of light throbbed and grew brighter. Suddenly the light exploded, blinding them all. The veil's curtains lifted, exposing the other world. Whirlwinds danced around the four adults, mixing with the light. Just as it was getting unbearably intense it ceased suddenly. The curtain flew shut once again. Mcgonagall and Snape exchanged glances while Lupin and Dumbledore's eyes were fixed on the veil. A small movement came from behind the curtain once again. This time it was not a breeze, but a pale hand.  
  
It gripped the doorway of the veil desperately as a second reached out in hopes of help. Lupin's eye grew wide and he ran to its rescue. Ignoring Dumbledore's cries of protest he grabbed the hand and pulled. A shaken Harry Potter emerged.  
  
"Sirius left. He said he'll be happier now." The boy smiled and then fell unconscious into the shocked werewolf's arms.  
  
Indeed, Sirius had moved on. As did every single lost soul that past the veil's door. They had finally gotten hold of the key to the exit, revenge on the wizarding world's greatest threat. All who did not live to see the end of the war were at peace. The living were finally able to rejoice and continue their lives without fear. And something else had happened that night. A tortured boy's life was finally turned around for the best. His grief was put to rest. Though the boy's soul had died, a man's was born in its place. The man-who-lived. 


End file.
